Trent Richardson was dropped into, on the surface, what looked like a winning situation. After all, it was Andrew Luck playing quarterback now — not one of the players in and out of Cleveland Brown’s revolving door.

But, in the end, Richardson bombed. Traded from Cleveland to Indianapolis in the middle of the season, he never caught on in his new home. He rushed for 563 yards, averaging 3.0 yards per carry. His most productive game of the season: 19 carries for 64 yards, and four catches for 38 yards on Dec. 15 against Houston.

Luckily for the Colts, they had Donald Brown to step in. Brown is now with the San Diego Chargers, and Indianapolis’ stable of backs includes Richardson, Vick Ballard and Ahmad Bradshaw. If Richardson wants to at last reach his potential, this is time to do it.

The Colts begin offseason workouts on Monday. That’s something Richardson did not have the benefit of last year, and as a result, didn’t have a chance to really learn the offense.

“It’s going to be very, very important for (Richardson) to be here for the offseason program and to dive into this thing full steam ahead, which he will,” coach Chuck Pagano said on the Colts’ website. “He wants to be great. He’s got all the talent. He’s got all the ability. We would have never done what we did if we didn’t believe that deep down in our core. So we look for him to have a great offseason and to have a great 2014 campaign.”